How drivers and mechanics can avoid injuries on the job

Dr. James Clapper demonstrates a stretching exercise for preventing injuries while trucking. Photo: Dr. James Clapper

With a mind to safety, service truck operators often receive extensive training in order to utilize their equipment in a secure fashion that doesn’t put anyone or anything on a job site at risk needlessly.

However, potential dangers lurk in mundane aspects of service truck operations. Without proper care and technique, debilitating injury can be caused by the most innocuous of actions. Los Angeles area chiropractor Dr. James Clapper, a specialist in occupational injury prevention and ergonomics, says it is extremely important that those in the utility industries take proper care to protect themselves.

“In my experience, most muscle, joint and disc injuries are caused by the accumulation of many

little things that eventually add up until something wears down and ‘breaks,’” Clapper told Service Truck Magazine. “Little by little, little things add up into big things. This is common knowledge when bending a coat hanger back and forth or when a slow, persistent leak doesn’t become apparent until significant damage is already done.”

In the two photos above, Dr. Clapper demonstrates a pair of hand and finger stretches that can help avoid injuries that come from long periods spent using a steering wheel and other equipment

Clapper, who presented on this topic at the 2017 International Construction and Utility Equipment Exposition in Louisville, said most people sabotage their own bodies in a variety of “little” ways throughout the day that compound over years. Many don’t even realize how much pressure they are potentially putting on their bodies. Backs, shoulders and other body parts eventually give out after years of accumulated stress yet they don’t have any idea what happened. Even something as simple as sitting in your truck for long periods can have devastating impacts, Clapper says.

Hazards of sitting

“Sitting for long duration causes muscle tightness in the hamstrings and hip flexors, particularly,” said Clapper, director of ergonomics and biomechanics Training for Future Industrial Technologies . “These muscles directly affect the knee joints, hips and low back — all common areas for drivers to experience pain and discomfort. Chest muscles get tight from the arms-forward position, pulling the shoulder joints into an at-risk position and putting tension in the upper back and neck. Gripping the steering wheel causes the flexion muscles of the hands and forearms to be tight as well.”

The solution, Clapper says, is strategic, therapeutic stretches which help to maintain the neutral length of the muscles. The stretches should be done daily, or even several times a day. Tight muscles and tendons are prone to straining and inflammation while joints that are under tension suffer from decreased motion and are prone to arthritis and other degenerative changes over time.

“As we get older, our muscles and joints don’t work like they used to, so stretching is important and necessary,” Clapper said. “Some people roll right out of bed and expect their body to do all kinds of things and it’s not ready! They put themselves at risk. Preparation is needed to reduce the chances of injury in the immediate and in the long run. The stretches we teach, for example, in our training are easy to do, safe and effective. Some common stretches that we all learned back in gym class are more harmful than they are good. The head roll is a good example — rolling your head backwards is not good for the joints in your neck.”

Challenge of changing habits

One of the biggest challenges is changing habits — many workers have been performing their duties in unhealthy fashions for years and will find it hard to change, citing the cliché about old dogs and new tricks. At a fundamental level, however, Clapper says, these people don’t want to get hurt and they have families who don’t want them to get hurt.

“I say it’s not worth being stubborn about holding on to old habits that are just going to get you hurt,” Clapper said. “It’s pretty easy to modify the things you do to be safer once you know how. In our training, we demonstrate this and they feel the difference first hand. Self-preservation is a motivating factor.”

If self-preservation isn’t enough, perhaps employers should encourage workers to avoid actively or knowingly contributing to the development of a preventable injury, which could lead to them becoming a burden on their co-workers or their families. While these injuries cause lost production man-hours on a job site, it’s about more than that. It’s about the quality of life enjoyed.

“It is not OK to work hard your whole life and then end up broken for retirement,” Clapper said. “By then you’ve earned the right to enjoy it and by managing it well, your body can last long enough to allow you to do just that.”